Wednesday, December 19, 2012

The Candid Camera: Only in China

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You might have thought that you miss-typed a few letters and stumped upon a porn site, like the long-gone whitehouse.org, when you log on the official website of National Land Bureau in Xingguo County of Guangxi, because all faces of senior officials of the Bureau had been mosaic-ed.

It's a security feature, explained Mr. Tang, the Communist Disciplinary Committee Chief, told a reporter. A few months ago, almost all officials received 'Photoshop-ed' pictures depicting them with unknown women, naked. With the letter, there is a note demanding a large amount of money for silence. Because they honestly did not remember how many women they had had, many wired the money. As a precaution, their faces were technically scrambled, said Mr. Tang.

The corruption is so prevailing among officials nowadays such that officials have become victims of random targeting. Some criminals sent spam messages to officials with one line words: wire $$$ to this account otherwise we will expose your crime. Many followed just in case.

The picture on the left were taken by a person passing by. It happened to be one day before the boys were found dead in a garbage container on the street. It is believed to be the last picture of these boys, possibly the only picture in their lives.

Nov 16, 2012, Bijie of Guizhou Province, five children cuddled in a garbage container to keep warm. All five were found dead the next morning. Aged from 5 to 10, the kids had been wandering on the streets for months according to residents nearby. When a former reporter broke the story online at Kaidi Community, the entire country were shocked and saddened by the modern Little Match Boys.

Beijie Police acted quickly to arrest the reporter Mr. Li Yuanlong and pressed criminal charges for revealing the death of kids. Li was sentenced to jail for 2 years in 2005 for similar offense, and has been jobless. Li's son, now studying in Canada, said the family was proud of Li. Facing online pressure, police allowed Li back home in early morning on Nov 25. Li wrote in Weibo, 'Gloria in excelsis Deo.'

Chinese netizens banged on their keyboards demanding heads roll. The government and the Party listened. This morning, residents noticed new slogan was painted on garbage containers on streets. It now reads (the red Chinese characters beneath the large openings): 'HUMAN OR ANIMAL STRICTLY FORBIDDEN. ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK.'

Four years ago in Guiyang, the capital city of Guizhou Province, three little girls were actually caught on camera warming themselves with a box of matches.

In an interview aired by the official China Central Television (CCTV), audiences noticed the wrist of the senior official of the Interior Department was mosaic-ed. CCTV responded that the process was to hide a logo on the official's chest. However, viewers pointed out that the measure was to prevent concerned citizens from finding out the watch she was wearing.

Several officials had been found to own multiple expensive watches valued beyond reach of their wages, and were forced to step down.

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